NEW YORK CITY: The dollar Monday continued to regain strength after last week's retreat, even as US retail sales figures disappointed.
The euro slipped to $1.3064 at 2100 GMT from $1.3066 at the same time Friday.
The dollar also gained on the Japanese yen, trading at 99.82 compared with 99.29.
The euro rose against the yen, buying 130.41 of the Japanese currency compared with 129.73 late Friday.
The dollar also advanced modestly against the British pound and the Swiss franc.
Earlier in the day the Commerce Department reported US retail sales in June rose just 0.4 percent, below the 0.7 percent expected by analysts. Excluding motor vehicle and parts sales, retail sales were flat.
"Despite the pickup in job growth, consumer appetite has been muted and until we get a stronger recovery in consumption, the Federal Reserve will need to be very careful with how much stimulus they remove from the economy this year," said Kathy Lien, managing director of BK Asset Management.
Lien still expects the Fed to taper its big bond-buying program in September, but expects Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to "spend most of his time in Washington reassuring Congress it will not send the economy into a downward spiral."
Bernanke is due to testify to congressional committees Wednesday and Thursday.
Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX, agreed that the weak retail sales figures, combined with what is expected to be a tepid inflation report Tuesday, will lead Bernanke "to maintain a dovish bias midweek."
The dollar sank last Wednesday and Thursday following comments by Bernanke to keep monetary policy accommodative due to the fragility of the US economic recovery.
However, the dollar recovered slightly Friday as some analysts rated the greenback comparatively strong next to other leading currencies.
Among other currencies, the pound dipped to $1.5100 Monday from $1.5106 Friday.
The dollar rose to 0.9480 Swiss franc from 0.9459.




















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